# Installation

# Hardware compatibility

CloudLinux OS Solo supports all the hardware supported by RHEL/CentOS, with few exceptions. Exceptions are usually hardware that requires binary drivers, and that doesn't have any open-source alternatives.

With RHEL 8 (CloudLinux 8), some devices are no longer supported. You can check the entire list here.

# Fresh installation

# Downloading installation media

You can download the latest ISO and use it to install CloudLinux OS Solo on your server using this link.

There are multiple ISO types available:

• CloudLinux-*-boot.iso - this ISO is made specifically for network installation and does not contain any packages inside.
• CloudLinux-*-dvd1.iso - this one contains all packages from the network installation repository, so you can set up any possible configuration without network access.
• CloudLinux-*-minimal.iso - this one contains only a minimal set of packages to set up a light server without GUI and Development tools.

# Installing in the Graphical User Interface

The graphical installation interface is the preferred method of manually installing CloudLinux OS Solo. It allows you to have full control over all available settings, including disk partitioning and storage configuration.

The graphical mode is used by default when you boot the system from the local media.

# Language selection

The first screen displayed is the language selection page.

First, find your preferred language in the left column and then select locale in the right one. The selected language will be used during installation and also as a default language of the installed system.

After you select your language and locale, click Continue to confirm your selection and proceed to the Installation Summary.

# Installation summary

The Installation summary screen is the main dashboard of your installation parameters. Most of the options which can be configured during the installation can be accessed from here.

The summary screen displays links to other configuration screens, those links can be in several different states, which are graphically indicated:

• Grayed-out link means that the installer is currently updating this section. Please wait a little before accessing this section.

• A warning symbol next to an icon means that a screen requires your attention before you start the installation.

• Links without a warning symbol mean that the screen does not require your attention. You can still change your settings in these screens, but it is not required to start the installation.

# Installation source

The first thing that you should define is where the system will be installed from. There are basically two options:

• ISO file
• On the network

# On the network source

Use this option to download packages to be installed from a network location. This is the preferred way as you automatically receive all critical bug fixes that may affect installation.

The correct installation URL for CloudLinux OS Solo is

https://repo.cloudlinux.com/cloudlinux/8/BaseOS/x86_64/kickstart/

Type in the installation URL in the corresponding field, configure the proxy if needed and press the Done button.

# ISO file source

This option is primarily used as an alternative when you don't have an internet connection on a target server. It is only available if you downloaded Minimal or DVD ISO which contains some bundled packages in.

Tick the ISO file checkbox and press the Done button.

# Next steps

After clicking Done, you will be redirected to the Installation Summary screen where Installation source and Software Selection links will be greyed and the Downloading package metadata message wll be shown.

Please hold on while that message disappears and proceed to the Software Selection section.

# Software Selection

The Software Selection screen allows you to choose a Base Environment and Add-ons. These options control which software packages will be installed on your system during the installation process.

This screen is only available if Installation Source is properly configured and only after the installer has downloaded package metadata from the source.

It is not possible to select specific packages during a manual installation, you can only select pre-defined environments and add-ons.

To install CloudLinux OS Solo, first, choose the CloudLinux OS Solo (minimal) environment on the left of the screen.

Only one environment can be chosen, even if more are available.

Then, on the right side of the screen, select one or more add-ons which you want to install by ticking the check boxes next to each add-on.

# Final preparations

Installation is almost done, all you need to do is to configure your installation target using the Installation Destination menu and create your Root Password.

Doing that, the Begin installation button becomes blue, so click it.

After this point, the installation process actually starts and changes are being made to your selected disks. It is not possible to go back to the Installation Summary and change any settings configured there; if you need to do so, you must wait for the installation process to finish, reboot your system, log in and change your settings on the installed system.

The bottom of the screen shows a progress bar and a message informing you of the current progress of the installation. When the installation finishes, you can press the Finish installation button to reboot your computer and log in to your newly installed system.

# Next steps

Reboot your system, login and check EULA which is located in the /usr/share/cloudlinux-release/EULA.

Next, activate your installation in order to get updates.

# Converting existing servers

Sometimes it is required to convert already existing AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux servers to CloudLinux OS Solo.

It is easy to convert your existing installation by cldeploy script. The process takes a few minutes and replaces just a handful of RPMs.

# Downloading and running conversion script

If you already have an activation key, run the following commands:

yum install wget -y
wget https://repo.cloudlinux.com/cloudlinux/sources/cln/cldeploy
bash cldeploy -k ACTIVATION_KEY

Where ACTIVATION_KEY is the one that you got in the previous step.

If you want to get an IP-based license, run the following commands:

yum install wget -y
wget https://repo.cloudlinux.com/cloudlinux/sources/cln/cldeploy
bash cldeploy -i --to-solo-edition

After the successful conversion, reboot your system by running the following command:

reboot

# The cldeploy explanation

By its design, CloudLinux OS Solo is very close to the upstream operating system, RHEL (and so, CentOS and AlmaLinux). This makes the conversion process relatively straightforward, requiring just one reboot.

Here's what the cldeploy script does when you run it:

• Backups the original repository settings into the/etc/cl-convert-saved.
• Backups RHEL system ID into the /etc/cl-convert-saved (RHEL systems only).
• Installs CloudLinux repository settings and imports CloudLinux RPM key.
• Replaces redhat/centos-release, redhat-release-notes, redhat-logos with CloudLinux version.
• Re-installs CloudLinux version of rhnlib/rhnplugin.
• Checks for binary kernel modules, finds replacement if needed.
• Detects OVH servers and fixes the mkinitrd issues.
• Detects Linode servers and fixes the grub issues.
• Checks if LES is installed.
• Checks that the /etc/fstab has the correct /dev/root.
• Checks for efi.
• Installs CloudLinux Manager for cPanel Solo.

# Next steps

Reboot your system, log in and check EULA which is located in the /usr/share/cloudlinux-release/EULA.

# Uninstalling

You can always uninstall CloudLinux OS Solo. In this case, the system will be converted back to CentOS or AlmaLinux.

The following actions will be taken:

• CloudLinux repositories & yum plugin will be removed.
• CentOS or AlmaLinux repositories will be set up.

In the end, the script will provide instructions on how to finish the conversion back. That will require removal of the CloudLinux kernel (a manual step), and installing CentOS or AlmaLinux kernel (if needed).

To uninstall CloudLinux OS, run the following command:

wget -O cldeploy https://repo.cloudlinux.com/cloudlinux/sources/cln/cldeploy
sh cldeploy -c

Now you have converted back and it is time to install the kernel.

To delete the CloudLinux kernel, run the following command (change the kernel package name to the one you've been using):

rpm -e --nodeps kernel-2.6.32-673.26.1.lve1.4.27.el6.x86_64

To install a new CentOS or AlmaLinux kernel once you deleted the CloudLinux kernel, run the following command:

yum install kernel

If yum says that the latest kernel is already installed, it is OK. Please check your bootloader configuration before rebooting the system.

To remove unused kmods and lve libs, run the following command:

yum remove lve kmod*lve*

Before the reboot, the following command should be executed for restoring Apache and httpd.conf without mod_hostinglimits:

For EasyApache 3:

/scripts/easyapache --build

For EasyApache 4:

/usr/local/bin/ea_install_profile --install /etc/cpanel/ea4/profiles/cpanel/default.json